A Crawley Outing
by constantlycold
Summary: Written for the MM Secret Santa exchange. Just a fluffy look at the Crawley family as they go on a little picnic together.


_Hello! This was written for the MM Secret Santa of 2017. My Secret Santa was thematthewreview. After asking some questions I determined she would like some good old fashioned Matthew/Mary/George fluff._

 _This is obviously AU from S3, and it has no spoilers or mentions of anything post S3._

 _Please let me know what you think. This is my first DA fanfic :)_

* * *

"Mamma, mamma, look!"

While it may not have been what he was often referred as, Matthew found himself twisting his head over to peer over towards the owner of the voice, his son, the words startling him into the action. A small, gentle smile formed upon his lips as his eyes connected with George standing mere feet in front of him, a pile of large-shaped worms grasped between muddy fingers. There was such an ere of innocence surrounding the child that Matthew could feel as his smile grew witnessed the pure and utter joy coming from the boy.

Sitting directly next to him, Mary released a playful laugh, effectively drawing his attention and gaze towards his wife. Her laugh, despite everything they'd been through, always seemed to command his full attention and he wouldn't have it any other way.

"That's brilliant, sweetie," the woman started, placing her half-eaten sandwich onto her lap. Her own gleeful smile was radiating miles past her son, though the distinct look of happiness and pride was undeniable.

George, for his part, had now lowered his gaze back towards the dirt, his smile never once leaving his face as he started to jump up and down in the same spot, twirling around now in excitement.

"He's so big! T-there are more too!"

Utterly transfixed, George lowered himself towards the ground now, sitting cross-legged as he examined the mixture of grass, mudd, and various insects below him. Matthew watched keenly as fingers dug deeper into the tiny hole the boy had built himself, and despite enjoying the happiness that happened to radidate off of the boy, his thoughts couldn't help be consumed by events only a year past, where they had left George unattended for mere minutes and he had managed to make a disastrous mess out of his clothing, a mixture of slime, mudd, and dirty covering every inch of his tiny body. Nanny had brought the boy to tears upon seeing him, an event he did not wish to relive.

With that thought in mind, Matthew turned towards his son, a friendly smile still upon his lips as to not frighten the child.

"Be sure not to dirty yourself too much," he spoke sternly, a voice he often only reserved for when he was working. "You remember what happened last time."

Hearing that, George turned to look at him, a proud and understanding look on his chubby face as he nodded his head in clear understanding. The poor child had been scared of Nanny for the following two weeks following the previous incident, so he no doubt remembered, even in his young age.

"Don't worry, father. I'm a big boy now!"

The confidence and security coming from the young boy caused Matthew to, yet again, smile proudly. Despite sometimes finding himself getting into trouble, George was an excellent child and rarely behaved poorly. In this, both he and Mary considered themselves lucky. The boy would grow up to be a good man, he was certain.

Satisfied, he turned back to look upon Mary, a graceful smile covering her own lips at the exchange as she lowered her hands to pick up her forgotten roasted-ham sandwich and quickly bringing it back to her lips. The act in itself brought back a sense of calmality and Matthew leaned over towards his right, his hands digging into the briefly forgotten picnic basket they had brought with them, containing a plethora of goodies prepared by Mrs. Patmore. It didn't take him very long to spy his very own sandwich, digging it out and unwrapping it quietly before bringing the delicious meat towards his own lips and taking a hearty bite.

Things at the estate had been incredibly busy as of late, at least for him. While he, Robert, and Tom often shared different beliefs on how things should be run, they always managed to get the work done that needed to be done, and in a timely manner. The estate had been prospering lately, and it was no doubt due to their hard work. Because of this, there had been very little opportunity for him to spend quiet time with both George and Mary. Robert and Tom having demanded the vast majority of his time.

Desperately needing an escape, Matthew had planned the afternoon and evening off from his duties at Downton and surprised Mary with a picnic, something she was more than happy to participate in. The three of them had escaped and headed to a small clearing, just off of their estate. They had been here before, but not in years. Not since George had been born. It didn't stop them though, as both he and Mary made themselves comfortable sitting upon a sprawled out blanket beneath, the sun beating down on them in a comfortable warmth given that it was late Spring now and was the perfect balance between being too hot and too cold. It was nice, peaceful, and above all, quite.

Lost in his own thoughts, he wasn't brought out of them until he heard the soft voice of his wife speaking up, causing him to turn towards his body her. He was immediately greeted by the sight of her warm smile, along with an overstuffed apple strudel settled between her fingers. Had he really been out of it for so long that she had finished her sandwich already?

"This is really nice, Matthew," Mary started before taking yet another quite bite out of the scrumcious strudel, clearly enjoying it, before she dared to continue onwards. Even though he had been with Mary for years now, he couldn't help but be transfixed by her, even by the simple action of eating. It was utterly and disturbingly graceful. Before he could respond to her, Mary continued on just as chipper as she had been previously.

"We will have to thank Mrs. Patmore for making George's favourite dessert for us. It would only be right."

By the tone of Mary's voice, Matthew knew very well that this wasn't a suggestion, but an order. Mary had the distinct talent of being able or order others around without sounding rude about it and giving them the false pretense that they had a choice in the matter. He didn't mind since, as she said, it would only be proper and polite to thank the Head Cook, but a small part of his mind wondered if this was a trait that their children would pick up from their mother. He hoped so.

Meeting his wife's chestnut eyes, Matthew couldn't pry the dangerous smirk off of his lips as he spied her reaching into the basket for yet another one of the deliciously over-stuffed apple strudels.

"Are you sure they're just George's favourite?" He nudged his head in the direction of the basket now, pointing out to the woman that she had eaten, and still was eating, more than her fair share of the treats herself. Obviously, it was a by-product of her delicate condition, but Matthew couldn't help but tease his wife whenever he had the chance.

"Matthew, really?!"

While Mary sounded horribly offended by the remark, he could tell that she also found amusement with it. If she didn't, he was certain she would have reached out to slap him, or at least she would have gotten up and walked away. Both are things she had done in the past when he had read her mood wrong, but luckily today wasn't one of those times. Looking at her more directly now, she could see the sly smile on her lips before she took a greedy bite of the strudel, not at all caring for the comment, or the implications. It took more effort than he would like to admit to withhold the laughter that threatened to escape at the sight. It was moments like this that reminded him just how lucky he was to have found Mary.

A few silent moments passed between the two of them now, both of them enjoying the others silent company. The only noise was the playful laughter of George in the distance, but both of them were utterly content with the silence. More time passed before them contently while he ate, and Matthew could see as Mary's hand made way for the basket, yet again, digging another one of the strudels out. He knew better than to comment on it this time and simply shook his head in a teasing manner.

Mary caught the shake of the head, a coy smile growing on her lips before taking a small bite out of the pastry. Turning his attentions back to watching George in the distance, he was surprised when Mary suddenly spoke up.

"The more I think on it, I am fairly sure Daisy made these."

Matthew turned to look at his wife yet again, his own hand dropping what little remained of his sandwich onto his lap before reaching across towards the basket and taking one of the strudels for himself. Bringing it to his face and examining it closely, he could see no distinctive different between the ones he was certain that Mrs. Patmore made. Leaning forward, he took a small bite, the fruity flavour mixed with sugar immediately assaulting his palette.

"Well," Matthew started, stopping to bring a hand up to his lips and wiping the excess sugar from his face. "They are splendid." Matthew didn't even bother to wait for Mary's response before he leaned forward again, taking another small nibble out of the sugary treat. Daisy had grown to become an excellent cook and he could believe, without a doubt, that she was the one who had made the studels this morning.

When Mary didn't immediately respond, he shifted his body away from her, his gaze following George, yet again, as the child ran around with an innocence he had long ago lost. However, seeing George run like he currently, with such joy, forced him to remember something he'd been meaning to ask his wife about.

Letting out a heavy sigh, he brought his hands down towards his lap, taking a spare moment to wipe the sugar off of his hands onto his napkin before he shifted his body to face his wife directly.

"So, what did Mrs. Patmore say when you asked her about Daisy?" He raised his eyebrow now, clearly demanding an answer, even if it wasn't something that was particularly easy to speak about. Mary had been meaning to ask Mrs. Patmore, for quite some time now, about inviting Daisy to move into their new home with them, when the time came, to become their new Head Cook. The poor girl had spent most of her life working under the tutelage of Mrs. Patmore, and both Mary and he agreed that it was time the young woman moved on. Surely she would like the opportunity to have her own kitchen and her own staff to boss around.

Realizing that he was engaging in a more serious conversation, he could see as Mary brought what little remained of her strudel down onto her lap before looking up to him, and thus giving him her full attention.

"Yes, I spoke to her about it this morning, actually. She thinks Daisy would be up for the task." Mary sounded confident with her words, something that only pleased Matthew, knowing he needed her approval for this move. Sadly, he also couldn't stop the smile that came with the words. This was good news since he knew, deep down, how much Mary was going to miss being surrounded by her family. Having a familiar face around would help the adjustment. Besides, he was certain that Daisy would do well with them.

"Naturally it would be a big change for Daisy," Mary continued on, "but Mrs. Patmore thinks she would excel cooking for a smaller family and having less maids around and would then build up the skills to eventually take over, when the time comes."

All Matthew could do now was to nod his head in agreement since he agreed wholeheartedly.

"I think she will do great," he spoke, as he did his best to send his wife an encouraging smile. "You know," he started, once again. "William was always singing her praises during the war. You'd think she was the personal cook to the King himself, the way he talked about her." He smiled turned sad now as he thought back to his dearly departed friend.

While it may have been years ago, William had sacrificed himself for him, and that was a debt he knew he could never repay. He felt, in some strange way, that securing a long-term position for Daisy would be his way of thanking is dear friend for the ultimate sacrifice he made.

"I have the utmost confidence she can handle the role of Head Cook for our little family" he continued on now, and couldn't help but smile at the imagery the thought provided. He didn't often talk of the war, or of William, but he knew his old friend would be happy to see the women he loved succeed in the world.

Coming back to reality, he immediately realized that Mary was nodding her head in silent agreement with him. He was glad that he had gotten the subject of Daisy sorted though. He felt better for himself for encouraged, he decided to push his with another question he had been avoiding asking Mary since he knew it was going to be a bit of a sensitive subject.

"Do you think Anna will come with you?"

He knew this question was bothering his wife given that Anna had been Mary's ladies maid for as long as she could remember. It made sense that Mary would want Anna, her closest friend, to move away with them and to continue to be her ladies maid. While he knew that Mary desperately wished for this, she was also very aware Anna had commitments of her own. Anna wasn't likely to leave her husband, and Mary was smart enough not to ask her too, not in any serious manner. Still though, it was a conversation that needed to be had before either party got offended.

Mary let out a heavy sigh now, the very thought of the topic exhausting her. He could tell she was growing nervous, her hands wrapping tightly around her napkin now, a habit she did when she was anxious. If anything, it made him feel bad for bringing the subject up but they did need to speak about it.

"I had thought about asking her again," Mary finally spoke up, though stopped and shook her head when the reality of the situation hit her, "but I do think she would prefer to stay here with Bates. It wouldn't be fair to ask her to leave for us."

Matthew simply nodded his head; it was what he had expected to hear. He certainly wouldn't leave Mary if any of his friends asked it of him, along with the offer of a better paying job, so he understood the predicament entirely.

"Yes, I can certainly understand that."

Realistically speaking, it made perfect sense, even if it wasn't what they wanted to hear. However, he was certain that they would survive. All they needed was each other, and they had that. He just wanted Mary to be happy and comfortable and knew that Anna would aide in any sort of large transition, especially with the new changes in their lives that would inevitably follow.

With an ere of defeat, Mary continued on, though Matthew could tell she wasn't particularly thrilled.

"When I brought the subject up, she did say there was a women in London she would recommend to us. I believe she said her name was Emmaline.. or Emma-something. Apparently she served as a ladies maid to Lady Rostlier before the war."

Mary met his gaze now, forcing a smile upon her delicate lips and trying her best to stay positive. He remembered Lady Rostlier, though he couldn't ever recall seeing her ladies maid. The two of them had met a few times at formal dinners before the war. To be honest, Matthew had found her to be a rather boring, but perfectly pleasant woman. No doubt her ladies maid would be equally well-behaved.

"What has she been doing since?" Matthew couldn't stop himself from asking as he turned his head to look towards George, spying him running in the grass now, thoroughly enthralled in whatever game he was playing with himself. Mary gave a brief shrug in reply.

"Didn't Lady Rostlier have a heart-attack or something along those lines when the stress of the war reached her family?" He asked now, turning his attention back towards her and enjoying the warmth the sun seemed determined to lay upon them after a long winter. He could have been wrong, but he felt like that was something Mary had mentioned to him years ago. Gossip was her forte, not his.

Mary smiled at this, something he was happy for seeing as her spirits didn't seem to be as bleak now.

"She did. Apparently Anna's friend has been slipping between different jobs these past few years, since Lady Rostlier's untimely death. Anna says she is very eager to go back to her roots."

Again, Matthew found himself simply nodding his head as he listened to his wives words. Really, as long as the girl knew how to do her job and got along fine well Mary, he could care less. If he wasn't going to get getting Anna, he would take her recommendation. Mary was Anna's friend too, and he trusted her with this.

Undeterred by his silence, Mary continued on.

"Frankly, Anna's recommendation alone is enough for me. The women can't be any worse than O'Brien. Mother had her in service for the vast majority of my life and she was a horrid woman."

At this, Matthew couldn't withhold his laughter, his thoughts instantly traveling back towards the older woman and her infamous sideburns. No matter what he did, O'Brien seemed to have some sort of hatred and distrust directed towards him. He never truly understood it and thinking back on the woman now only caused him pure and simple amusement.

"Yes," Matthew started, taking a moment to catch his breath from his brief fit of laughter. "I remember her face the first time I saw her. It was the look of pure and utter disgust and it was before we had ever communicated. I think she was the only one who hated me more than you, dear."

Again, Matthew couldn't help but tease his wife, thinking back fondly on when the two of them first met. There was so much tension between them, but when it melted away, all that was left was love, pure unadulterated love.

"Well, you did rather make a proper fool of yourself, dear." Mary teased back, her hand lightly reaching over to give him a playful shove. The smile on her lips was worth the brief attack though. He knew, deep down, that she looked back at their first few encountered with as much amusement as he did. Oh, how young and dumb they were.

"And here I thought I was being charming," he shot back at his wife now, perching himself up from his comfortable seating position to look the woman directly in the eye.

Slowly, he allowed his gaze to travel as he took in her yellow lace dress and hat. Both were new purchases she had had handmade in London just two weeks ago. He hated to admit how much he loved the way it fit her slightly curved body. She was the epitome of beauty and he had never considered himself so utterly lucky.

Feeling his gaze of her, he could see the slight flush to Mary's cheeks, an adorable blush assaulting her and catching her off guard. Before he could say how insaney charming it make her look, she spoke up instead, her playfulness still intact beside her embarrassment.

"Well, you certainly flatter yourself, darling…"

Hearing those words, he couldn't help but lean in closer towards her, their faces mere inches from each other now and the space between their bodies diminishing. "Hm,I thought you liked the ere of confidence I had about me." He teased back now, deciding to indulge his beautiful wife in whatever game she wanted to play with him. Her laughter at his words was enough of a victory for him and he felt his confidence build as he brought his hand up to wrap around her heated cheek.

"Not back then…" Mary all but whispered the words, but he heard them clear as day as he witnessed the smile on her lips. Not needing any more encouragement, Matthew leaned his lips in, determined to kiss his wife. However, the idea was quickly shot down when the familiar ring of their child's voice reached their ear drums.

"Momma, look!"

It took all of his self-control not to snap at the sudden voice interrupting his private moment with his wife. However, if was his son, so he was able to swallow down his desire and pride. Matthew quickly aborted his kiss and looked over to see that George, still covered in mud and if possible, even more grass, wave over towards them a proud smile on his face. This time he had a rather large salamander in his muddy hands instead of a worm.

Pulling away from him, Mary smiled brightly towards their son before responding to him.

"That's lovely dear, but why don't you bring him back to his home?"

George wasn't able to hide the sudden disappointment he felt upon hearing those words. The child no doubt wanted to bring the little creature back home to show Sybbie and Marigold, but Matthew knew his wife. There was no way she was letting him take any insect home. Not after the last time.

It was after their last family vacation, mere months ago. This time they had managed to visit a small, private, beach in Spain. Matthew and Mary had spent the entire day alone on the beach, and George had been free the roam the coastline with his grandfather. To their knowledge, the two of them had a wonderful time, Robert engrossing George in stories of his time in war and such.

Unfortunate for all of the involved parties, when they got back to their rooms at night, Nanny had been completely flabbergasted to find seven mini-crabs in George's shorts pockets. There was a wretched scream coming from her room and it was something none of them would ever soon forget. When they questioned their son about it, he declared he wanted to take the crabs home to England with him, to show to his friends and so that he could watch them grow old. It had taken a long time for both her and Mary to explain that he could not, in fact, take the crabs home, and to make him understand why he owed their Nanny an apology.

"Okay..." George was all but moping around now, clearly not impressed by the fact that he could not bring the salamander home to his cousins. They both watched as the boy turned to leave, but before he made an escape, he suddenly whipped right back around, a smile on his lips and his disappointment clearly gone in th span of a second.

"Father, will you please help me find a grasshopper? I've been looking everywhere, but all I can find are worms and salamanders. They're no fun."

While getting up and looking for a grasshopper was perhaps one of the last things that Matthew wanted to do right now, one look into those bright blue eyes and he knew he didn't have the heart to say no, not when George had been behaving well all day and even was using his manners. One of his major regrets of working so hard on the estate was that he felt he never got to spend enough time with his son, at least not during the day time. He always made sure to have a catch up with his son before bed, even tell him a bedtime story, but he always wished he could be more hands-on time with him. Thinking about the grasshopper, a sudden idea came to him and he immediately nodded towards his son, his heart blossoming when he saw the smile on the boy's face.

"Why don't you start by looking over there," Matthew detached fully from Mary now and pointed over towards the forestry area a few yards away to the left before continuing on. "In a few moments I will join you. Looks like I will have to show you the secret mating call of the grasshopper." He smiled widely, knowing that George would be enthralled with the idea of learning something new.

The pure joy on the boy's young features at the prospect of doing something like this with his father was enough to make Matthew's heart soar yet again. Truly, he loved his son and needed to cut down on some hours with the estate. Family was first and foremost for him

"But Father, what's a secret mating call?" His son asked, before following his directions, looking completely puzzled. Clearly this wasn't something that the boy had read about in any of his books, but Matthew was not worried.

"Well," Matthew started, itching away from mary before using his hand to point backwards towards her, speaking up in a loud whisper now. "It wouldn't be a secret if I told you in front of your mother, would it?"

George giggled at this before looking towards his mother, before laughing again. Clearly, the boy was pleased he was going to be privy to some secret information not known to her. When the boy didn't immediately start to move, Matthew smiled brightly again before giving his son another reminder.

"Just go over there and start looking for them. I will join you in a few moments."

Calming down now, George nodded his head and eagerly made in way over to the area Matthew had pointed out. Oddly enough the boy reached down and picked up a stick the size of his torso. That alone stuck Matthew as odd given he had no idea where the boy would have gotten it from. However, that thought was instantly struck from his mind when he could hear Mary leaned up against his back, her chin resting over his shoulder now before she spoke up.

"You have a secret mating call for grasshoppers now, do you?" Mary teased against him, causing him to smile fondly. While he knew his wife didn't like being kept out of the loop on things, even something as innocent as this, he could not, however, divulge the secret mating call of the grasshopper. It didn't matter if she liked it or not. It was only something shared between father and son and something she would, unfortunately, be kept out of the loop of.

Deciding to change the subject, lest his temperamental wife lash out on him, Matthew turned around now, smiling as Mary moved against him so that they were sitting directly in front of each other, similar to how they had been before they were interrupted.

"You know, George mentioned to me how excited he is to be an older brother, especially if we end up having another boy." Despite how happy he already felt, Matthew didn't bother trying to stop the smile that assaulted his lips when he thought back to the moment George had confiding that with him.

"I always wished to have a younger sibling. It took me a few years to realize why I didn't, and I accepted that fact." Matthew continued on now. Mary's sudden pregnancy was a surprise, but not an unwelcome had only told their son about it a few weeks ago, but he was already devoted to the role of an older brother.. Both Mary and Matthew had sat him down and explained everything that would happen, how his mother would be pregnant, and how he was going to have "the biggest responsibility of his life" as he was going to be an older brother. He seemed very eager for the task, and Nanny had told him that the next day he had been bragging to both Sybbie and Marigold about it.

Having siblings was always something he himself had wished for. He always remembered asking his father when he would be getting a little sister or a little brother, like all of his friends at school. It wasn't until he asked his mother and she started crying that he was told she could no longer have any children. At first, he had been rather upset, longing for the companionship many of his friends and schoolmates had, but his father was always there to cheer him up, and he soon realized there were some benefits to being an only child. That being said, he always knew he would want to have many children, and now he was going to be blessed with at least two.

Realizing where his thought must have gone, he could feel Mary pull him back into reality as she grabbed ahold of his hand and held it within her own before speaking up with her own concerns.

"My worry is that they will fight like I did with Edith. Thinking back on it now, we were terrible to each other."

Matthew squeezed her hand after hearing those words. No, George was nothing like Edith and he couldn't see that being the case. While he could understand her fear, he knew it wouldn't happen to them. Wanting to cheer her up though, he sent her a playful smirk.

"Well, maybe Edith deserved some of it?" He replied, genuinely wanting to see his wife smile again. In all truth, he rather enjoyed Edith and got along well with her, but when it came to fights between the sisters, he was obliged to take his wife's side. He felt he would even if she wasn't his wife, but he would never tell that to Edith.

Luckily for him, the comment seemed to work, a slight smile appearing on Mary's lips before she responded back, clearly thinking back on all of the past memories the two sisters charged with one another, good and bad.

"Oh, I think we were equally as guilty, dear. We must have driven my mother crazy." With that, mary let out a small playful laugh and Matthew was glad to hear it. Really, he could see it now, Mary and Edith as children fighting over who would get to wear the green dress. As terrible as it might seem at the moment, Matthew knew Cora treasured those moments with her children. Nevertheless, he felt the need to comfort his wife.

"I've seen the way George acts around Sybbie and Marigold, I think he will be fine." He squeezed her hand tightly as soon as the words left his words were true, at least to his recollection of things. Sybbie and Marigold were as good as sisters to George, and he got along splendidly with them, give or take a few little childish fights that are inevitable. Still, neither Sybbie or Marigold were jumping at the brim to join George outside to look for salamanders and earthworms, so he knew the boy was counting on having a younger brother, not a sister.

"So, have we made a decision?" He was a little caught of guard by his wife's sudden question, finding that it seemed to come out of nowhere and had nothing to so with their current topic of conversation Looking into her dark eyes, he knew instantly what she was talking about. It was the major reason to this little outing, to discuss where they wanted to live.

"As much as I love the home in Thirsk, I think we will be better off in the house outside of Ripon." Matthew let out a heavy breath as soon as the words left his mouth. He knew this decision would please his wife, which was the main reason he was willing to give into it so easily. Seeing the joy on her face as soon as the words left his mouth told him everything he needed to know about how she felt about the choice. Still though, in his excitement, he chose to carry on.

"It's close to Downton, which I know is important to you, and even if it is a bit big for the four of us, I know it's the home you'd prefer." Together, he and Mary had been to inspect the two potential homes just last week. He had enjoyed both of them, but knew Mary liked the one near Ripon more. He knew leaving her home would be hard on her, harder than she probably realized, but being so close to her family would be a great help. Both he and Mary wanted to live outside of Downton for a few years. Despite the fact he worked there, he wanted to give George and their unborn child an idea what it was like living in a smaller home, with less maids and house staff. Also, as much as he loved her family, Matthew was looking forward to getting some more private time with just the two of them.

Mary smiled at him at him now, feeling perfectly content. Before he was even fully aware of his, he could feel as she dragged their conjoined hands and rested them on top of her swollen belly, allowing him to feel the hidden bump beneath.

"I think it's the perfect home to raise our little prince and princess in," Mary spoke, letting the sentence hang in the air. At this, matthew felt his interest peaked and he forced himself to look into her deep, dark eyes yet again.

"Really? You think it's a girl?" Matthew knew perfectly well that there was no way to know for sure what the gender of the baby would be. However, he had heard countless tales of how some women were just able to tell sometimes. A mother's intuition, they called it.

"I do…"

With that, Matthew leaned in and planted his lips onto Marys, tasting the lasting sweetness of her lips and capturing the moment for eternity.


End file.
